Interviews with Olim

Q. Where were you born and where did you grow up?

A. I was born in Boston, but moved around a lot until getting to Israel. Mostly Massachusetts and New York.

Q. At what age did you come out? And how did it go?

A. In my 20s, living in California, my sister worked out I was seeing a woman and outed me to my dad who was already living in Israel. She didn’t take it well but my dad was (and still is) totally supportive, much to her chagrin. The rest of my family in Israel were also supportive.

Q. Were you involved at all in the LGBT community back home?

A. Yes, very much so, though there is not home. Here is home. I worked a lot with the LGBTQ community. I also ran several LGBTQ meetups.

Q. What is your involvement (if any) in the LGBT community in Israel?

A. Not much yet. Haven’t had the chance. Plan on and hope to be very involved at some point.

Q. How long since you made Aliyah?

A. I originally moved here in high school then left when I was 25. I arrived back here two years ago next month.

Q. Did you move here on your own or with family/friends/significant other?

A. I originally came here with family, in high school, and stayed here just under 10 years. I returned to the US temporarily but ended up staying there 22 years. My daughter moved here almost four years ago, and I followed soon after.

Q. Why did you make Aliyah?

A. Because this is my home and nowhere else really is ours, as a people. We don’t belong anywhere else.

Q. How is it going so far?

A. Mixed. I love being here but I’ve had health issues which have made it challenging.

Q. What do you do in terms of work?

A. I am working on getting my Israeli law license. I am an attorney licensed in the US. It is a long process to get one’s license here as well.

Q. How is your Ivrit?

A. Good, for conversion. Not good enough for law.

Q. What has been your biggest challenge so far?

A. Dealing with health issues whilst trying hard to acclimate.

Q. How do you perceive the Israeli LGBT community?

A. I perceive it as fine. Nice people.

Q. How is being LGBT in Israel different to back home?

A. Is difficult everywhere. In the US, we still have rights, though we worked hard to get them and they are now being taken away. Here, we don’t really have rights, despite what they like to say. That was disappointing to me.

Q. If you were making aliyah now, would you do anything differently?

A. I would want to have a better understanding of the ins and outs of the Aliyah benefits.